Author: Chris Dolos
Grade Level: 6
Course: Physical Science
This is a nice overview of your unit. You can make it more readable by splitting it into several smaller paragraphs. You begin by stating the unit is about time, but later talk about and list standards for the earth-moon system. You should probably let the reader know this earlier in your description.
Purpose of Unit:
Throughout this unit, the basic question that I will strive to answer for student understanding is: "What is time?". This question will eventually manifest itself into the question, "How do you measure time accurately from minute to minute, day to day, month to month, year to year". The lessons will eventually evolve into an exploration on how the moon plays a role in constructing our modern day equivalent of time measurement, the calendar. The introduction to the unit will begin with this question, and will be revisited throughout the unit as students gather more knowledge through inquiry and activities that build their understanding. By the conclusion of the unit, the deeper question should be apparent and appropriate for the students to answer and understand. My goal is to have the students understand the underlying reasoning defining time. Other follow up questions that would lead this introductory brainstorming activity would be: "What and how do we base our time from?", "In what ways?", "How would we be able to tell time without clocks?", "How do you think people in ancient times were able to distinguish time accurately?".
Following the introduction, a historical perspective is needed to provide some concrete evidence on the subject. Introductions to places like Stonehenge, the Egyptian Pyramids, and the Medicine Wheel are some examples to not only inform students about this history, but also to define a starting point regarding their prior knowledge vantage point. Examples of early clocks (sundials, water clocks) will be introduced, providing more examples of how time is harnessed. An important aspect to these various revelations is making sure that the students understand the functions of each and every invention and how they relate to the natural world in both scope and function. For example, Stonehenge's scope involves the interstellar objects to provide an understanding of our planet's positioning and function in our solar system. A sundial on the other hand provides a function of telling time for a portion of the day only, while operating in the scope of utilizing sunlight. A lab regarding the construction of a sundial is also in the plan for providing some hands on experience in measuring time. Some questions should arise from this experiment. Understanding that everything in the sky rises in the east and sets in the west can be very valuable in these several days.
Connecting the concept of celestial objects following the same pathway in the sky to the moon phases is the next step in the process of measuring time. The observation of a lunar month's cyclical duration as a large, accurate, and repeatable measure of time, directly leads into the evolution of calendars created by various ancient civilizations. By:1) utilizing a string of lunar cycles to identify an accurate extended period of time, and 2) fitting that string of lunar cycles into the time period associated within the Sun's solstices, the concept of the calendar is nearly complete. Progression to this level is estimated to take 4 days with a quiz on the 5th. Comprehension of this material will be made possible through the use of guided questioning, group activities, and through formative assessments. The progression of information will extend into the actual lunar phases of the moon. Asking questions regarding why phases of the moon exist are essential when examining the inter-relationships between the Sun, Earth and Moon. Discussions based upon constellations and navigation methods in ancient times can provide practical applications that span various disciplines, helps build interest, and will help to secure knowledge. Understanding orbit speeds and angles of light are the foundation of understanding this lesson as well. To continue, a question and answer discussion session led by the teacher would begin the process. This would eventually segue into a discussion/ review on periods (length of earth day, time required for moon to orbit earth, earth period around sun), and how they are connected. Demonstrating this concept can be done with three students, a flashlight, and various sized balls in a dark room., or through construction of the phases in a flip book. The question that is posed during this lesson is, "What causes phases of the moon?". Other questions this will lead to would be, "How can we use this exact time period to create our own calendar?". The eventual goal of this lesson will be for the students to create a month portion of a calendar using phases of the moon, and then compare it with a real moon calendar. The concluding concept in my mind that I would like to portray to the students is: 1) time is based upon light that we see, 2) this light comes directly from the sun, the stars, and is reflected off of the moon, 3) we can convert these observations into periods that are separated by unique events that can be measured accurately and repeated, 4) Every living thing is involved in the cyclical nature associated with this time phenomena, and have their own biological signals that can be measured to accurately harness periods of time.
Since this is a middle school science classroom, I had pictured the setup of the classroom to be in a grouped format, as was noted in Curtis Corner Middle School. It is easier to group the students this way when tables are used instead of individual desks. In my classroom I would utilize 2 tables per group, which would seat about 6 students per group. This would save time when wanting to implement grouping, allow more opportunities for peer assessment, provide support for students who need assistance when struggling, provide opportunities for peers to assist a peer when needing assistance, and allow/ promote positive interactions between peers and the building of social relationships. It is also more intimate and more community orientated, and hopefully will develop a sense of trust throughout the year.
Learning Performances and Standards
National Science Education Standards
Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning.
Teachers of science engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching and of student learning.
Teachers of science design and manage learning environments that provide students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science.
RI Middle School GSEs Earth and Space Science
ESS2: The earth is part of a solar system, made up of distinctive parts that have temporal and spatial interrelationships.
8- Systems and Energy/ Patterns of Change
Explain temporal or positional relationships between or among the Earth, sun, moon (e.g. night/day, seasons, year, tides) or how gravitational force affects objects in the solar system (e.g. moons, tides, orbits, satellites).
Students demonstrate an understanding of temporal or positional relationships between or among the Earth, sun, and moon by:
a) Using models to describe the relative motion/ position of the Earth, sun and moon.
b) Using a model of the Earth, sun and moon to recreate the phases of the moon.
Performance Standards for Science (Gathered from Grade 6 Curtis Corner Middle School Curriculum Standards Format- Lynn Arcand) Can you give an idea of where these standards come from? Is this from the GEMSNET kit? The SK curriculum guide? Science Concepts:The student demonstrates conceptual understanding by using a concept accurately to explain observations and make predictions by representing the concept in multiple ways (through words, diagrams, graphs or charts, as appropriate). Both aspects of understanding -explaining and representing- are required to meet this standard.
Standard 3: Earth and Space Sciences Concepts:
S3c: Understanding of: Earth in the Solar System, such as the predictable motion of planets, moons and other objects in the Solar System including days, years, moon phases and eclipses.
Standard 4 Scientific Connections and Applications:
S4a: Understanding of big ideas and unifying concepts, such as order and organization; models, form and function; change and constancy; and cause and effect.
S4e: Understanding of impact of science, such as historical and contemporary contributions; and interactions between science and society.
Standard 5 Scientific Thinking: The student demonstrates scientific inquiry and problem solving by using thoughtful questioning and reasoning strategies, common sense and conceptual understanding, and appropriate methods to investigate the natural world.
S5a: Frames questions to distinguish cause and effect; and identifies or controls variables in experimental and non-experimental research settings.
S5d: Proposes, recognizes, analyzes, considers, and critiques alternative explanations; and distinguished between fact and opinion.
S5f: Works individually and in teams to collect and share information and ideas.
-Predicting/Inferring: During a laboratory experiment, demonstration, or discussion, students are expected to use their curiosity and engagement to determine a possible reason for an action. This process is implemented constantly in this unit because it promotes brainstorming, interactions, questioning, and inferencing. This is important because it promotes the ideology encompassing the scientific method in a natural way, instead of using a generic and boring list of steps designed to scientifically infer upon some unknown concept or idea.
-Posing questions: Another important and vital part of the unit plan is the role of questions in providing valuable learning, understanding and insight into some very difficult concepts. Every class of mine will always promote question and answer sessions/ discussions. The portrayal of information by the teacher should be intermingled with guiding questions designed for the students to teach themselves the material by answering their own question through guidance and inference. -Designing and conducting investigations: The utilization of knowledge through projects, activities, demonstrations, or laboratories can be used to hammer home difficult concepts. The hands-on approach to this type of investigation forces the student to become actively involved in the topic. Understanding of concepts is most likely to increase when application of information through hands-on activities is implemented.
-Constructing evidence-based explanations: By using examples, the teacher can provide actual evidence to support an idea or concept. Examples of this strategy in this unit occurs when looking at historical examples of time measuring (e.g. Stonehenge, Pyramids). Using this philosophy, the idea can be taken further when opting to construct something that provides similar evidence to support your ideas. An example of this would be the construction of the sundial to promote understanding of the harnessing of time. This hands on approach to understanding provides the students with concrete results that they can use to explain or comprehend a question or problem. -Applying Concepts: Throughout the unit, the students will be required to apply concepts from previous years, classes, or lessons to new information. This gathering of prior and new knowledge will allow the students to progress to new topics, and utilize critical thinking skills. By setting the foundation for "what time is", the students can apply that knowledge on a larger scale when examining orbital periods, calendars, and phases of the moon. Without this prior knowledge utilization and application, the progressive material would be more difficult. -Analyzing and interpreting data: This quality is essential to this unit and science in general. In every aspect of any lesson I could possibly think of, there is the opportunity to analyze and interpret data. This unit is no different. In any activity, there is some sort of analysis and determination of results. From the start of the unit, students are asked to determine how long a second is by estimating the number of seconds in a determined amount of time. This process involves analyzing their definition of what a second would be, counting the successive data, and analyzing the experimental results from the expected results. They probably will not even realize they are performing an experiment. This type of process will occur throughout the lesson, and will provide experience for the students in inquiring about questions, and determining an answer based upon scientific evidence.
Prior Knowledge Needed Before Addressing Standard:
First and foremost, students need to understand the concept of time. An activity asking one student in a group of two to estimate two minutes worth of seconds would be an example of providing some starting point. Brainstorming ways to measure that period of time more accurately will lead the students towards more critical thinking in a more personally attainable way. They are the ones accomplishing it, and because of that, they will understand more completely and will be less likely to forget the concept. Building off of this development of time into segments or periods mentally, the understanding would be completed when they can demonstrate the concept physically. Laboratory work (e.g. the creation of a sun dial) provides hands on experience to developing understanding. This activity also provides a direct relationship to the sun, the next goal in the standard. Students now need to understand the relationship between the Earth and the sun. Information such as: time required for one full Earth revolution, time required for one Earth orbit around the sun, and eventually, the time required for one moon orbit around the earth. The ability to convert time from seconds to years is useful information when determining these relationships as well. The activity of designing a calendar will incorporate the moon into the picture with the Earth and sun. By determining the period of the moon orbit, students have the essential information to design a year long calendar based upon the moon's orbit around the Earth. This known period of time associated with the moon orbit around the Earth can then be used to segment the phases of the moon appropriately. Students can then use demonstrations using a flashlight and a ball to display actual phases. This knowledge can then be used in a more critically thinking manner to determine the chronological relationship between the sun, moon and Earth.
Probable Misconceptions:
Students may be in the mindset initially that "time" is determined by a large clock somewhere in the world that determines time everywhere. This is why it is so important to destroy any misconceptions about this initial discussion on what time actually is. This can be achieved through hands on inquiry based examples and demonstrations. Another large misconception in students would be if they thought that any of the celestial objects in discussion were static, or orbiting around the wrong objects. Smaller misconceptions for example would be: 1) If a student wanted to use their sundial on a cloudy day or even at night, 2) That the moon is being covered up by something (during a waxing phase for example) rather than not showing its full lit side, 3) An observer thinks that they are seeing the entire moon's surface when in fact they only are able to see only one side.
Sources for the aforementioned misconceptions came from a student centered discussion from an EDC 430 class, and through my own personal inquiry on the topics misconceptions (from my personal experiences, and from out of school references). Where did you find these misconceptions? You should cite your sources.
Outline, Concept Map, or other Graphical Representation of the Concepts Addressed in the Unit
The foundation of the unit on “Measuring Time” was created through guided questions, and through inquiry based exploration of concepts. Every lesson began with a main question that was to be determined and understood thoroughly by the conclusion of the lesson. Each question was scaffolded by guiding questions that were important in their own discovery. These questions built knowledge that would eventually lead to having enough evidence to determine the underlying causes and connections that compose the originating question. They would first incorporate prior knowledge and enforce understanding of the previous lesson’s material. Next, the questions would make connections to the current lesson’s material, and then be used to build a solid understanding of the information to answer the main critical thinking question surrounding the lesson’s purpose. By formulating responses from these guiding questions, understanding of the current topics built as the lesson progressed. This scaffolding technique can be used as a formative assessment strategy to gauge the student’s progress in the lesson as well as throughout the unit. It allows the teacher to judge where the student group is as a whole, and provides some information that is valuable when determining if the class is ready to proceed or needs review of information.
As questions are asked, I think it is important to build understanding through guided questioning that exemplifies a natural understanding of concepts as they relate and connect to the simplistic nature of the world around them. Connecting information in science is a very necessary and organic process. It provides a point of reference and a tangible “hook” that students can visualize and build knowledge from when connecting more ideas. This approach to learning will also provide a greater success rate for retention of information. Providing opportunities for successful learning in science is also influenced by constructivist techniques of inquiry as well. By answering a question through the physical act of exploratory inquiry, the student will experience the true nature of science. By exploring questions through demonstrations and activities, students are more likely to retain and understand information. This can be achieved through the following exercises: time measuring lab, Sun dial lab, calendar making activity, flip book activity, moon phases demonstration, and independent research.
The sequencing of the information in the unit is based upon the scaffolding nature of the content. When students explore certain areas of a topic and can confidently answer questions that illicit understanding, the class as a whole can assertively move forward. This includes information relevant to the current material, whether it be from the previous year, unit, or class. With this approach, it ensures a lesson that provides an opportunity to involve a great deal of prior knowledge, and provides a greater chance for successful understanding. Stabilization of the learned knowledge through inquiry is achieved through the collaborative use of texts, articles, worksheets, quizzes, tests, and homework. The utilization and application of this stabilized information can be assessed formatively and summatively. It is important to provide the students with structure and direction when exploring through inquiry, whether it be constructively, informatively, or through research. Through this approach, the students are forced to become involved, and can now actively engage their minds in activities to which information can be linked to and referenced from in the future. Ultimately, the main goal is to provide opportunities for the students to link information in classes, lessons, units, grade levels, inter-disciplines, and self indulged inquiry to provide a greater understanding of the world.
Title: Measuring Time
Author: Chris Dolos
Grade Level: 6
Course: Physical Science
This is a nice overview of your unit. You can make it more readable by splitting it into several smaller paragraphs. You begin by stating the unit is about time, but later talk about and list standards for the earth-moon system. You should probably let the reader know this earlier in your description.
Purpose of Unit:
Throughout this unit, the basic question that I will strive to answer for student understanding is: "What is time?". This question will eventually manifest itself into the question, "How do you measure time accurately from minute to minute, day to day, month to month, year to year". The lessons will eventually evolve into an exploration on how the moon plays a role in constructing our modern day equivalent of time measurement, the calendar. The introduction to the unit will begin with this question, and will be revisited throughout the unit as students gather more knowledge through inquiry and activities that build their understanding. By the conclusion of the unit, the deeper question should be apparent and appropriate for the students to answer and understand. My goal is to have the students understand the underlying reasoning defining time. Other follow up questions that would lead this introductory brainstorming activity would be: "What and how do we base our time from?", "In what ways?", "How would we be able to tell time without clocks?", "How do you think people in ancient times were able to distinguish time accurately?".Following the introduction, a historical perspective is needed to provide some concrete evidence on the subject. Introductions to places like Stonehenge, the Egyptian Pyramids, and the Medicine Wheel are some examples to not only inform students about this history, but also to define a starting point regarding their prior knowledge vantage point. Examples of early clocks (sundials, water clocks) will be introduced, providing more examples of how time is harnessed. An important aspect to these various revelations is making sure that the students understand the functions of each and every invention and how they relate to the natural world in both scope and function. For example, Stonehenge's scope involves the interstellar objects to provide an understanding of our planet's positioning and function in our solar system. A sundial on the other hand provides a function of telling time for a portion of the day only, while operating in the scope of utilizing sunlight. A lab regarding the construction of a sundial is also in the plan for providing some hands on experience in measuring time. Some questions should arise from this experiment. Understanding that everything in the sky rises in the east and sets in the west can be very valuable in these several days.
Connecting the concept of celestial objects following the same pathway in the sky to the moon phases is the next step in the process of measuring time. The observation of a lunar month's cyclical duration as a large, accurate, and repeatable measure of time, directly leads into the evolution of calendars created by various ancient civilizations. By:1) utilizing a string of lunar cycles to identify an accurate extended period of time, and 2) fitting that string of lunar cycles into the time period associated within the Sun's solstices, the concept of the calendar is nearly complete. Progression to this level is estimated to take 4 days with a quiz on the 5th. Comprehension of this material will be made possible through the use of guided questioning, group activities, and through formative assessments. The progression of information will extend into the actual lunar phases of the moon. Asking questions regarding why phases of the moon exist are essential when examining the inter-relationships between the Sun, Earth and Moon. Discussions based upon constellations and navigation methods in ancient times can provide practical applications that span various disciplines, helps build interest, and will help to secure knowledge. Understanding orbit speeds and angles of light are the foundation of understanding this lesson as well. To continue, a question and answer discussion session led by the teacher would begin the process. This would eventually segue into a discussion/ review on periods (length of earth day, time required for moon to orbit earth, earth period around sun), and how they are connected. Demonstrating this concept can be done with three students, a flashlight, and various sized balls in a dark room., or through construction of the phases in a flip book. The question that is posed during this lesson is, "What causes phases of the moon?". Other questions this will lead to would be, "How can we use this exact time period to create our own calendar?". The eventual goal of this lesson will be for the students to create a month portion of a calendar using phases of the moon, and then compare it with a real moon calendar. The concluding concept in my mind that I would like to portray to the students is: 1) time is based upon light that we see, 2) this light comes directly from the sun, the stars, and is reflected off of the moon, 3) we can convert these observations into periods that are separated by unique events that can be measured accurately and repeated, 4) Every living thing is involved in the cyclical nature associated with this time phenomena, and have their own biological signals that can be measured to accurately harness periods of time.
Since this is a middle school science classroom, I had pictured the setup of the classroom to be in a grouped format, as was noted in Curtis Corner Middle School. It is easier to group the students this way when tables are used instead of individual desks. In my classroom I would utilize 2 tables per group, which would seat about 6 students per group. This would save time when wanting to implement grouping, allow more opportunities for peer assessment, provide support for students who need assistance when struggling, provide opportunities for peers to assist a peer when needing assistance, and allow/ promote positive interactions between peers and the building of social relationships. It is also more intimate and more community orientated, and hopefully will develop a sense of trust throughout the year.
Learning Performances and Standards
National Science Education Standards- Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
- Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning.
- Teachers of science engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching and of student learning.
- Teachers of science design and manage learning environments that provide students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science.
RI Middle School GSEs Earth and Space ScienceESS2: The earth is part of a solar system, made up of distinctive parts that have temporal and spatial interrelationships.
8- Systems and Energy/ Patterns of Change
Explain temporal or positional relationships between or among the Earth, sun, moon (e.g. night/day, seasons, year, tides) or how gravitational force affects objects in the solar system (e.g. moons, tides, orbits, satellites).
Students demonstrate an understanding of temporal or positional relationships between or among the Earth, sun, and moon by:
a) Using models to describe the relative motion/ position of the Earth, sun and moon.
b) Using a model of the Earth, sun and moon to recreate the phases of the moon.
Performance Standards for Science (Gathered from Grade 6 Curtis Corner Middle School Curriculum Standards Format- Lynn Arcand)
Can you give an idea of where these standards come from? Is this from the GEMSNET kit? The SK curriculum guide?
Science Concepts:The student demonstrates conceptual understanding by using a concept accurately to explain observations and make predictions by representing the concept in multiple ways (through words, diagrams, graphs or charts, as appropriate). Both aspects of understanding -explaining and representing- are required to meet this standard.
Standard 3: Earth and Space Sciences Concepts:
S3c: Understanding of: Earth in the Solar System, such as the predictable motion of planets, moons and other objects in the Solar System including days, years, moon phases and eclipses.
Standard 4 Scientific Connections and Applications:
S4a: Understanding of big ideas and unifying concepts, such as order and organization; models, form and function; change and constancy; and cause and effect.
S4e: Understanding of impact of science, such as historical and contemporary contributions; and interactions between science and society.
Standard 5 Scientific Thinking: The student demonstrates scientific inquiry and problem solving by using thoughtful questioning and reasoning strategies, common sense and conceptual understanding, and appropriate methods to investigate the natural world.
S5a: Frames questions to distinguish cause and effect; and identifies or controls variables in experimental and non-experimental research settings.
S5d: Proposes, recognizes, analyzes, considers, and critiques alternative explanations; and distinguished between fact and opinion.
S5f: Works individually and in teams to collect and share information and ideas.
Applicable Science Practices/ Learning Performances:
-Predicting/Inferring: During a laboratory experiment, demonstration, or discussion, students are expected to use their curiosity and engagement to determine a possible reason for an action. This process is implemented constantly in this unit because it promotes brainstorming, interactions, questioning, and inferencing. This is important because it promotes the ideology encompassing the scientific method in a natural way, instead of using a generic and boring list of steps designed to scientifically infer upon some unknown concept or idea.
-Posing questions: Another important and vital part of the unit plan is the role of questions in providing valuable learning, understanding and insight into some very difficult concepts. Every class of mine will always promote question and answer sessions/ discussions. The portrayal of information by the teacher should be intermingled with guiding questions designed for the students to teach themselves the material by answering their own question through guidance and inference.
-Designing and conducting investigations: The utilization of knowledge through projects, activities, demonstrations, or laboratories can be used to hammer home difficult concepts. The hands-on approach to this type of investigation forces the student to become actively involved in the topic. Understanding of concepts is most likely to increase when application of information through hands-on activities is implemented.
-Constructing evidence-based explanations: By using examples, the teacher can provide actual evidence to support an idea or concept. Examples of this strategy in this unit occurs when looking at historical examples of time measuring (e.g. Stonehenge, Pyramids). Using this philosophy, the idea can be taken further when opting to construct something that provides similar evidence to support your ideas. An example of this would be the construction of the sundial to promote understanding of the harnessing of time. This hands on approach to understanding provides the students with concrete results that they can use to explain or comprehend a question or problem.
-Applying Concepts: Throughout the unit, the students will be required to apply concepts from previous years, classes, or lessons to new information. This gathering of prior and new knowledge will allow the students to progress to new topics, and utilize critical thinking skills. By setting the foundation for "what time is", the students can apply that knowledge on a larger scale when examining orbital periods, calendars, and phases of the moon. Without this prior knowledge utilization and application, the progressive material would be more difficult.
-Analyzing and interpreting data: This quality is essential to this unit and science in general. In every aspect of any lesson I could possibly think of, there is the opportunity to analyze and interpret data. This unit is no different. In any activity, there is some sort of analysis and determination of results. From the start of the unit, students are asked to determine how long a second is by estimating the number of seconds in a determined amount of time. This process involves analyzing their definition of what a second would be, counting the successive data, and analyzing the experimental results from the expected results. They probably will not even realize they are performing an experiment. This type of process will occur throughout the lesson, and will provide experience for the students in inquiring about questions, and determining an answer based upon scientific evidence.
Prior Knowledge Needed Before Addressing Standard:
First and foremost, students need to understand the concept of time. An activity asking one student in a group of two to estimate two minutes worth of seconds would be an example of providing some starting point. Brainstorming ways to measure that period of time more accurately will lead the students towards more critical thinking in a more personally attainable way. They are the ones accomplishing it, and because of that, they will understand more completely and will be less likely to forget the concept. Building off of this development of time into segments or periods mentally, the understanding would be completed when they can demonstrate the concept physically. Laboratory work (e.g. the creation of a sun dial) provides hands on experience to developing understanding. This activity also provides a direct relationship to the sun, the next goal in the standard. Students now need to understand the relationship between the Earth and the sun. Information such as: time required for one full Earth revolution, time required for one Earth orbit around the sun, and eventually, the time required for one moon orbit around the earth. The ability to convert time from seconds to years is useful information when determining these relationships as well. The activity of designing a calendar will incorporate the moon into the picture with the Earth and sun. By determining the period of the moon orbit, students have the essential information to design a year long calendar based upon the moon's orbit around the Earth. This known period of time associated with the moon orbit around the Earth can then be used to segment the phases of the moon appropriately. Students can then use demonstrations using a flashlight and a ball to display actual phases. This knowledge can then be used in a more critically thinking manner to determine the chronological relationship between the sun, moon and Earth.
Probable Misconceptions:
Students may be in the mindset initially that "time" is determined by a large clock somewhere in the world that determines time everywhere. This is why it is so important to destroy any misconceptions about this initial discussion on what time actually is. This can be achieved through hands on inquiry based examples and demonstrations. Another large misconception in students would be if they thought that any of the celestial objects in discussion were static, or orbiting around the wrong objects. Smaller misconceptions for example would be: 1) If a student wanted to use their sundial on a cloudy day or even at night, 2) That the moon is being covered up by something (during a waxing phase for example) rather than not showing its full lit side, 3) An observer thinks that they are seeing the entire moon's surface when in fact they only are able to see only one side.
Sources for the aforementioned misconceptions came from a student centered discussion from an EDC 430 class, and through my own personal inquiry on the topics misconceptions (from my personal experiences, and from out of school references).
Where did you find these misconceptions? You should cite your sources.
Outline, Concept Map, or other Graphical Representation of the Concepts Addressed in the Unit
Lesson Sequence
Introduction To Time
Sun Properties/Sundial Lab
Clocks and Calendars
Clocks/ Calendars cont
Quiz #1
Introduction to Moon
Moon Phases
Moon/Earth/Sun Relationships/Eclipses
Review/ Small Quiz
Unit Test
Assessment Plan
Formative AssessmentSummative Assessment
Rationale
The foundation of the unit on “Measuring Time” was created through guided questions, and through inquiry based exploration of concepts. Every lesson began with a main question that was to be determined and understood thoroughly by the conclusion of the lesson. Each question was scaffolded by guiding questions that were important in their own discovery. These questions built knowledge that would eventually lead to having enough evidence to determine the underlying causes and connections that compose the originating question. They would first incorporate prior knowledge and enforce understanding of the previous lesson’s material. Next, the questions would make connections to the current lesson’s material, and then be used to build a solid understanding of the information to answer the main critical thinking question surrounding the lesson’s purpose. By formulating responses from these guiding questions, understanding of the current topics built as the lesson progressed. This scaffolding technique can be used as a formative assessment strategy to gauge the student’s progress in the lesson as well as throughout the unit. It allows the teacher to judge where the student group is as a whole, and provides some information that is valuable when determining if the class is ready to proceed or needs review of information.As questions are asked, I think it is important to build understanding through guided questioning that exemplifies a natural understanding of concepts as they relate and connect to the simplistic nature of the world around them. Connecting information in science is a very necessary and organic process. It provides a point of reference and a tangible “hook” that students can visualize and build knowledge from when connecting more ideas. This approach to learning will also provide a greater success rate for retention of information. Providing opportunities for successful learning in science is also influenced by constructivist techniques of inquiry as well. By answering a question through the physical act of exploratory inquiry, the student will experience the true nature of science. By exploring questions through demonstrations and activities, students are more likely to retain and understand information. This can be achieved through the following exercises: time measuring lab, Sun dial lab, calendar making activity, flip book activity, moon phases demonstration, and independent research.
The sequencing of the information in the unit is based upon the scaffolding nature of the content. When students explore certain areas of a topic and can confidently answer questions that illicit understanding, the class as a whole can assertively move forward. This includes information relevant to the current material, whether it be from the previous year, unit, or class. With this approach, it ensures a lesson that provides an opportunity to involve a great deal of prior knowledge, and provides a greater chance for successful understanding. Stabilization of the learned knowledge through inquiry is achieved through the collaborative use of texts, articles, worksheets, quizzes, tests, and homework. The utilization and application of this stabilized information can be assessed formatively and summatively. It is important to provide the students with structure and direction when exploring through inquiry, whether it be constructively, informatively, or through research. Through this approach, the students are forced to become involved, and can now actively engage their minds in activities to which information can be linked to and referenced from in the future. Ultimately, the main goal is to provide opportunities for the students to link information in classes, lessons, units, grade levels, inter-disciplines, and self indulged inquiry to provide a greater understanding of the world.
F08 - Unit Eval - Chris D